Regrets, pretending, and promises
by munrodegrassi
Summary: Eli and Clare have a rough start when she sees him with Imogen, but as time goes on more complications arise. Will they get through it together?
1. Chapter 1

**An:I made a mistake so I fixed it, please read and review! Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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>At this point in time, I Clare Edwards realized I had made a mistake. Seeing him with her had pushed me to the edge. I needed to do something and fast, because I could tell he was slowly falling in love with her. Her name is Imogen Moreno and she is everything I'm not. I knew this is why he likes her so much. Even though, when I had gone to Little Miss Steaks because I couldn't handle being around my parents, he had said 'opposites attract'. but I knew it wasn't true, especially because we were completely different, too different to ever be together. that's why he chose her over me. Eli Goldsworthy had moved on, meanwhile I broke up with him, and I'm still in love with him. Its not like I hadn't tried to move on from the intense, drama-filled, and crazy relationship we had. I really did try, with Jake, but that didn't work out either. He ended up doing exactly what I knew he would. From the beginning his eyes were set on Alli, my so-called 'best friend'. Some friend she was, considering she was the one who said I should go out with Jake and she ended up with him. Anyway, back to the problem at hand, Imogen and Eli. Or as some people called them, 'emo', fitting huh?<br>So here I am staring at them from a distance. They're currently whispering in each others ears, laughing at what the other had said. And I couldn't help but think, "Why couldn't that be me? Am I not deserving of an amazing boyfriend like Eli or did I do something wrong to not be worthy of someone so great?" I don't know why I decided to end it. I mean Eli did need help, but why couldn't I be there to help him through it and be his rock, like he had been for me on numerous occasions. I could tell he was getting worse, every time I saw him the dark circles under his eyes would be darker and his behavior would be all over the place. Not to mention his alienation from everyone but Imogen. And I knew it was because she had convinced him to go off his meds because it was 'dulling him out' and he couldn't focus. But in reality it made his condition worsen.

I decided to stop torturing myself and walked home. On the way there I thought about how my life had changed since last year. Before, I wouldn't have let boys effect me so much. When Darcy and I would come home from school, she'd tell me all about her and Peter and how much she liked him. And I couldn't fathom the feelings she had for him, I had never experienced anything close to a relationship. When I was with K.C., it was never anything compared to what Eli and I had. Eli. He had given me so much, but I didn't actually know how much until we were done. He loved me so much he would do anything for me, and I took that for granted. But I loved him too, we had just never actually said the words to each other even though we each knew we did. It wasn't until I was halfway home when I noticed someone was behind me, calling my name. when I heard him I froze. I didn't have the guts to turn around and I think he knew that because he had ran in front of me. We both stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Well, you called me, what do you want?" I asked, but it came out harsher than I wanted it to.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about what happened between us."

"You. You're sorry about finding the perfect girl for you because I'm clearly not. I'm just not the kind of person who can be happy because I'm such a horrible person. Well you know what Eli, you can stop apologizing for something that you clearly don't care about. Besides you have Imogen. Why don't you go back to your perfect girlfriend, and leave me alone."

While saying all that, I started crying. I ran the rest of the way home with shouts from Eli telling me to come back. But why should I listen to him? Its not like he cares. When I got inside my house, it was quiet. My dad had said he had to "stay late" at work. Even though I knew he was at some bar, flirting with some girl half his age. But I guess that doesn't matter. He doesn't care about me so why should I care about him? There's no point in making an effort if he wasn't. After the divorce my mom moved out and since the judge for their divorce decided I would have to live with my dad, she moved to the states. I went up to my room and put my ipod into the dock. I put the volume all the way up and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

When I got out, I put on a towel and went to my room. I got dressed, then went to fix my hair. It took about 15 minutes because I had to dry it then curl it, but it didn't matter. I walked back to my room to get my phone and then went downstairs. I figured I'd watch tv but when I got to the living room, there Eli was sitting on the couch.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in my house?" I asked curious.

"The door was unlocked and you weren't answering so, I figured I'd wait for you down here."

"Okay, well that only answered one part of my question." I said annoyed. He sighed but replied.

"Earlier when we were talking, you didn't give me a chance to respond to you. What you said, it wasn't true. You're not a horrible person. In fact, you're the smartest, kindest, most patient person in the world. And, I do care about you. So much its insane, and I was only with Imogen because I was trying to get over you. But, that didn't work out so well. Seeing as how I'm here right now."

"Eli, you don't have to pretend you care about me because its pretty clear that you love Imogen, considering how you two were acting today."

"Clare, I have always cared about you I'm not pretending. The only pretending I was doing was with Imogen. I was trying to convince myself that I didn't love you anymore. But the truth is, I've never loved you more than I do right now. I love you Clare."

"… I love you too Eli, but I don't want to get hurt again."

"And you won't, I promise. I will never hurt you."


	2. Chapter 2

During me and Eli's conversation in my living room we agreed that we would try to work on our relationship but we weren't dating. Just figuring things out, and I was okay with that because we had a lot of things to clarify and talk about. After he left I went upstairs to get some sleep, because school was the next day and I was tired from crying.

When I woke up the next day, I could hear talking coming from downstairs.

One of the voices belonged to my dad, but the other I didn't recognize. It sounded feminine so I guessed it was the girl my dad had brought home from the previous night. I checked my phone for messages and I had a text message from Eli. I smiled and opened the message,

_Good morning beautiful. See you at school today. 3_

_~Eli_

I smiled and got up from my bed and walked to the bathroom. As I was brushing my teeth, I could hear part of their conversation.

"Have you told her yet?" The woman's voice said.

"No, not yet I was planning to do it today."

"Okay I hope she takes it well I want her to like me." She said.

"Don't worry I'm sure she will, you're amazing." I wonder what they want to tell me. I finished washing my face and went to get dressed for school. Then I went downstairs, but before going into the kitchen where my dad and the woman were I stole a look at her so I wouldn't be totally shocked. She was about 5'3 with bleach blonde hair and was dressed like she was a professional streetwalker and looked to be about Darcy's age.

"Good morning Clare, I didn't hear you get up." My dad said like nothing was going on.

"Yeah, I just got up." I said with a curious expression. He must have known I wanted to know what was up and who the girl beside him was, because he quickly explained with a wide grin on his face.

"Clare, this is Melody. We've been seeing each other for awhile and…honey, do you want to tell her?"

"Sure! Clare, we're getting married!" With those five words, my world came crashing down. My heart dropped like it was jumping off the side of Mt. Everest. My dad could not get married to this woman, she was old enough to be my sister. This could not be happening, at least not right now. I'm just starting to fix my life now this, why cant anything in my life go right?

"I can't deal with this right now, I have to go to school." He looked disappointed when I saw his face before I turned around. Was he expecting me to jump for joy and say 'Welcome to the family Melody! I can't wait for the wedding!'. Well that definitely wasn't happening, how could he expect me to just forget about mom and the fact that they had only gotten divorced a week ago. Part of their divorce was me living with one of them, and because I'm a minor I didn't get to choose who I wanted to live with. Somehow the idiot of a judge they got, decided I would have to live with my dad. I really don't know how that happened, but I have no choice so I'm stuck here till graduation. Which is about two years from now, fantastic. I got to school a half hour early because with everything going on at my house, I couldn't be there right now. When I turned the corner to the hallway my locker was in, I saw Imogen and she looked worried.

"Clare! I wanted to talk to you but I wasn't going to until later because I didn't think you would be here this early. But anyways, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Is there something wrong with Eli? Cause I've been texting him but he never responds and I called him like ten times but he isn't answering."

"Uh, I don't know. The last time I talked to him he seemed fine."

"Okay, thanks."

"You're welcome." She walked away down the hallway, towards what I'm guessing was the theatre since that's where Eli usually hangs out. But I guess she doesn't know Eli well enough to know that he never gets to school earlier than he needed to be here. He was the type of guy who liked to sleep a lot, he would sleep all day if his mom Cece would let him. So getting up early for school wasn't really his favorite thing to do. I walked the rest of the way to my locker and got my books out for my first class, which was my favorite English. Which I had with Eli, the time right after spring break was kind of weird and awkward between us because we had just broken up and hadn't spoken since. But now that we were getting things sorted out the tension in the air went away. Thirty minutes had passed and students were beginning to come through the front doors of Degrassi. Amongst them was a boy with dark brown hair, and alluring green eyes. He went to his locker which was right next to Clare's. He saw her sitting in front of her locker and smirked.

"Waiting for me?" Eli said teasing.

"Maybe." Clare said, just as teasingly.

"Well, I am amazing. I'm not surprised."

"Yeah, yeah. We get it you're amazing. Can we get to Dawes' class please?" Adam said walking up behind them, smiling.

"Yes please. Thank-you Adam." I said.

"Welcome. So I cant help but notice the awkwardness and tension is no longer lingering. What happened yesterday?"

"We figured some things out and, came to an agreement." I said pleased.

"And that would be?"

"We're going to talk some things out, clarify some stuff and go from there." Eli said smiling.

"That sounds awesome and I'm glad you guys are working it out. I was kind of starting to get annoyed by you guys acting like a bickering married couple." That hit me hard, and also reminded me of my dad and Melody. Adam must have realized my distressed expression because he quickly apologized.

"Oh Clare! I'm so sorry I completely forgot." Adam said guiltily.

"Its okay Adam its not your fault. I'll see you guys later." I quickly said this because I could feel the tears already coming. I ran to the J.T Yorke memorial Zen garden and started sobbing.

"Clare! Are you alright? Adam didn't mean to say that he just, wasn't thinking." Eli said worriedly.

"I-I'm f-ine. Its n-nothing" I said between sobs.

"You're a terrible liar and based on how badly you're crying I know its not nothing. Come on lets skip the rest of the day and get out of here." I nodded my head, signaling that I agreed and we left.


	3. Chapter 3

**An: SUPRISE! Two updates in one day thanks so much for the great reviews, it really means a lot!**

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><p>We exited Degrassi and went to Morty, by this time my crying had subsided but I still wasn't okay. Eli opened my door for me and lingered there looking in my eyes with the door open for a moment before he closed it and walked over to the drivers side and got in. He started the car and drove out of the parking lot. After a few minutes of driving, we finally arrived at Eli's house. I got out of the hearse and followed Eli to the front door, he opened it and we went in. Eli gestured towards the stairs so I guessed he wanted to go up to his room before we started talking. I went up the stairs and to his room. Eli sat at his desk in the computer chair, and I sat on his bed.<p>

"Okay, what's wrong?" Eli said with a concerned tone.

"Well, earlier when Adam brought up the bickering married couple thing. It hit me kind of hard because of my parents. And when I was about to leave for school this morning, my dad said he was getting married to some bleach blonde nineteen year old. Meanwhile he and my mom just got divorced a week ago. And on top of that, he said they had been seeing each other for awhile. Meaning he was dating her while he was still married to my mom." Eli walked over to me and sat next to me on his bed, he put his arm comfortingly around me.

"Wow Clare, that's a lot to have to deal with. I'm sorry that you have to go through all this, I wish you didn't. If you ever need to talk or vent about anything, just tell me and I'll listen. You don't have to deal with this alone okay?"

"Okay I will, thanks for being so understanding and helpful. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you." I said smiling at him.

"I love you too Clare, so much." Eli said, then leaned down to kiss me. I kissed him back and we lay down on his bed still kissing. I was on my back and Eli was on top of me. My hands were entangled in his hair and one of his hands were on my hips, the other supporting him to stay up.

"Clare, we have to stop." Eli said when he pulled away.

"Why?"

"Because we still have a lot to discuss and, you aren't exactly thinking straight because of everything going on."

"I guess you're right, I have to go home anyway and talk to my dad about all this."

"Okay, are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah I'll be fine." I sighed.

"Can I drive you home?"

"Sure." We left his house and got in Morty, Eli started the car and we set off to my house. When we got there my dads car was in the driveway. I started to get out but Eli caught my arm before I could leave.

"Clare remember, if you need to talk call me okay?" Eli said reassuringly.

"Of course, I will call you later anyway." I said giggling.

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too." I said smiling. I walked up to my front door and opened it to see my dad and Melody sitting at the dining room table.

"Clare, I got a call from the school today. You skipped all of your classes." My dad said with an accusing tone to the last part.

"Yeah, I didn't feel well so I left." I said as if it was nothing, although I knew I would get in trouble for speaking to my dad in that manner. I didn't care though, not anymore.

"Do not talk to me like that young lady, I am your father." He said trying to sound authoritative.

"You haven't been acting like much of one." I said under my breath, but I guess he heard me because he then said,

"You are grounded, two weeks. No cell phone, no computer, and no TV."

"Dad that's not fair!"

"And you can't see that boy either."

"But-"

"No buts, go to your room. Now." I went up to my room and plopped down on my bed. I still had my phone for the time being, so I text messaged Eli.

_Eli sorry I can't call you tonight. I'm grounded for skipping today._

_~Clare xo_

_Oh that sucks that you're grounded. For how long? Sorry. :/ _

_~Eli_

_Its not your fault, I wanted to skip remember. And two weeks, no phone, computer, or TV. And my dad said I can't see you while I'm grouned either. : (_

_~Clare xo_

_What no blue eyes for two weeks? I don't know if I can live that long without seeing you._

_~Eli_

_I know I feel the same way. But we can still see each other during school._

_~Clare xo_

_True._

_~Eli_

_I have to go, talk to you tomorrow?_

_~Clare xo_

_Of course. I love you. 3_

_~Eli_

_I love you too. 3_

_~Clare xo_

I decided to get ready for bed, so I took a shower and brushed my teeth, then put on a tank top and shorts. I heard a tapping sound coming from my window, I walked over and opened the door to see what was causing the noise. When I looked down from my balcony I saw Eli standing there next to the tall oak tree, smirking at me.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"Seeing you of course, what else?" Eli said.

"Okay, how are you going to get up here without my dad hearing you?"

"I'm going to climb the tree." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But what if you fall, I don't want you to get hurt." I said worriedly.

"I'll be fine." He started climbing the tree, like he had been doing it his whole life. In no time he was on my balcony walking towards me, I backed away so he could come into my room.

"So why the sudden need to see me?" I asked, curious.

"I couldn't wait until tomorrow to see your gorgeous blue eyes." Eli said.

"Well if my dad hears you, I will never be able to see you and I will be grounded even longer."

"Okay, so he won't hear me. I'll be as quiet as a mouse." We sat and talked for awhile, catching up on everything we had missed in each others lives since we broke up. Eli had told me about how his mom had been urging him to talk to me and work things out. And I told him about how the divorce ended up, also about how I had no choice about living with my dad. About two hours later Eli had noticed how tired I was and said he was going to go home and let me get some sleep. We each said good bye and goodnight, as well as an amazing goodnight kiss. Then he left back out the door to my balcony and down the tree. I locked and closed the door and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry it took so long!Not my best chapter cause i had writers block when i wrote it so let me know what you think in a review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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><p>The next day, I woke up for school to the smell of pancakes and bacon in the air. My dad should have been at work by now, why was he making breakfast? I got up and went to the bathroom to begin getting ready for school. When I was dressed and ready to go, I descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen expecting my dad. But to my surprise, it was Melody. To be honest, I didn't even think she could cook let alone make such a huge breakfast.<p>

"Good morning Clare, I made breakfast for you." She said cheerfully.

"Uh thanks but, I have to get to school."

"Oh okay." Melody said looking down, with a sad tone in her voice.

"Yeah, bye." I said quickly and rushed out the door to avoid further comment. On my way to school it started to lightly drizzle, luckily I was wearing a hoodie so I pulled it up and continued walking. Soon, the sound of loud music came down the street and slowed down when it reached me. I turned to see Eli smiling at me from the drivers side window.

"Hey, need a ride?" He asked.

"Um sure." I said pondering it for a second. I got in and recognized the car as Bull Frog's.

"So, your dad is letting you drive his car to school. What's the miracle, he doesn't even let Cece drive it."

"Well, he didn't want to have to drive me everyday especially because of how late he gets back from the radio show. So he said I could drive myself as long as I'm careful. You know how he is about this car, its his 'baby'." I knew that all too well, Bull Frog would talk non- stop about his car even though only Eli actually knew what he was talking about. Eli continued to drive us to school, when we got there he parked and we got out. I walked up to the school, and saw Adam talking to Katie the editor of the school newspaper Degrassi Daily.

"Hey Katie." I said enthusiastically.

"Hi Clare, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." I said politely.

"Hey dude." Eli said to Adam.

"Hey." He responded.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Adam was just telling me about the radio show for school. Its called Mano A Mano right?" Katie said.

"Yeah, and Dave co-hosts." Adam replied.

"That's cool." Eli muttered. The conversation ended and an awkward silence replaced it.

"Uh, Eli and I have to go." I said quickly noticing Adam wanted to be alone with Katie. Eli gave me a strange look but went along with it. We walked away and Eli asked,

"What was that all about?"

"Adam wanted some alone time with Katie." I said.

"Oh right, I knew that." He said laughing.

"Sure you did." I said sarcastically. We walked up the steps of Degrassi and stopped at our lockers to get our books for first period. Then headed to the library to wait until it was time to head to class. I sat at one of the tables and Eli followed suit. Eli stared at Clare incredulous that she had pulled out her English text book and started doing the homework from the night before.

"Are you seriously doing homework right now?"

"Yeah, yesterday night I didn't get any homework done for Dawes' class and its due today." Clare said, still looking down at her textbook.

"Wait, you know that was extra credit right?" Eli asked.

"Yes, but-" Eli interrupted her.

"But nothing, you always do the extra credit in every class give yourself a break. You have straight A's you can't get any better of a grade, you should relax have some fun."

"Okay, I guess you're right. So what are we supposed to do until the bell rings"

"Hmm we could do this." He leaned in and kissed me and it got heated, that is until Mr. Simpson came into the library.

"Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards you both have detention. No PDA in school, you know that." He said then walked away.

"I love when you blush." That caused me to blush even more and Eli to smirk yet again. The bell rang and we left to class. The day went by quickly and when it was over I headed into detention. When I go there I saw Eli was already in a desk, looking towards the door to see who had come in. When he saw it was me his face lit up. I smiled at him then walked past the desk he was sitting in and faced forward. Detention lasted a hour and a half, when it was finished I got up and Eli walked towards me.

"That wasn't so bad." He said.

"It was pretty boring though."

"Yeah, want a ride home?" Eli asked.

"Sure." Eli took me home and when we got there, he gave me a kiss good bye and I went up the side walk to my house. I walked into my house to a bunch of boxes cluttering the house. My dad was in the middle of putting one together in the living room and Melody was not in sight, so I asked him what was going on.

"Why are there boxes everywhere?"

"Melody and I have decided that we're going to move."

"What, where?"

"Calgary, we leave in a month." My dad said calmly.

"But that's over two thousand miles from here. My whole life is here my school, friends, my boyfriend!" I could not believe he wanted me to just drop everything and move so far away.

"You can make new friends, go to a new school plus that boy isn't good for you anyway." He tried to persuade me but it wasn't going to work.

"Eli is amazing and he actually cares about me unlike you. You can't make me leave." I said walking towards the door.

"You're my daughter and you will not stay here by yourself." I was already out the door and on my way to Eli's house. On the way there I could feel tears about to fall and it was about to pour down rain any second. When the tears finally fell so did the rain, and I was soon soaked. I knocked on his door and when he opened it he saw that I was in tears and quickly took me into a hug.

"Hey what's wrong?" He sweetly whispered in my ear. Now sobbing I said,

"I'm moving."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Another update! Just wanted to get this up cause i might not have a lot of time to with school starting and no internet. Anyways hope you enjoy and please review!**

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><p>"I'm moving."<p>

"What do you mean?"

"My dad said that me, him, and his fiancée are moving to Calgary in a month." I said sadly, still crying.

"But he cant do that, just take you away from me. We just got back together."

"I know its not fair but I don't have a choice he's my dad."

"What if you stayed here with me?"

"I would love to Eli but, my dad would never go for it. Plus your parents wouldn't let me stay here."

"What are you talking about Clare, my parents love you. And, your dad doesn't have to know you're staying here you can tell him Alli's parents said you could live with them." Eli said hopefully.

"I guess that could work, I would have to make sure Alli is on board though."

"I'm sure she'd do anything to keep her best friend from moving two thousand miles away."

" I don't know we haven't talked in a while, but okay, I'll ask her." I said now smiling up at him.

"Good I hate when you cry." We went farther into his house away from the door.

"Are you sure you want to live with your girlfriend?" I said kidding but partly serious.

"Absolutely, I love you and I will get to see you everyday, first thing." Eli said smiling cutely at me.

"I love you too."

"So, what do you want to do until my parents get home?" He asked.

"Um we could watch a movie." I suggested.

"Okay, what movie?"

"Hmm do you have-" Clare was interrupted by Eli.

"Oh! I know exactly what movie we could watch." I gave him a questioning look, I wasn't too sure about Eli picking the movie because he loves scary movies. Me not so much. He must have noticed my expression because he reassured me.

"Don't look so worried, if you get scared I'm right here." Eli chuckled. He put in the movie to the DVD player. When the title of the movie appeared on the screen, I glared at Eli. I turned to look at him and he was already facing me with a smirk, that seemed to be permanently plastered to his face.

"Let me in. Really Eli." I asked.

"Yes what's wrong with this movie?"

"Its scary." I said like it was obvious.

"No its not, at all."

"Yes it is." I argued.

"It has vampires in it I chose it just for you." Eli said trying to persuade me by batting his long eyelashes over his gorgeous green eyes, while pouting. As much as I hated to admit it, it was working. He knew my weakness with him and he took advantage of that information.

"Fine." I gave in. Eli smiled and pressed play with the DVD remote. The movie proceeded to play, and every time I got scared I jumped into Eli's arms and he just smirked. By the time the movie was over, I was practically in Eli's lap. I looked up at him realization coming to me.

"You planned this didn't you?"

"Planned what?" Eli asked playing innocent, but I wasn't buying it,

"Choosing a scary movie knowing I don't like them and get scared easily. So that I would end up sitting on your lap."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. You'll never know though." He replied snarky.

"Hmm well I have ways of making you tell me." I said mischievously.

"And what would these ways be exactly?"

"I'm never telling but I could show you." Eli looked nervous, probably because he no clue what I was going to do. But he still had the smirk on his face trying to cover his nervousness. I leaned over to him like I was going to kiss him and he thought so too, but my real plan was something different. Just as we were about to kiss ,I pulled back, Eli looked at me confused. Before he could question me I attacked him with tickling.

"Clare…Clare stop…that tickles." Eli said between giggling.

"Yeah that's kind of the point." I stated while laughing.

"If this…is…your plan…its not going…to work."

"And why is that?" I asked curious.

"Because if… I can't…"

"Can't what?"

"Breathe…I can't tell… you." He said making his point clear. I thought about it for a minute contemplating if he was right. I hate it when he is.

"I guess you're right." I stopped tickling him, he sat up and took a few deep breathes.

"Geez remind me to never get in a tickle fight with you." Eli said with a smirk.

"Yeah don't mess with me." Me, trying to be tough made Eli laugh.

"Hey what's so funny?"

"You're just cute when you try to be tough." Eli said sweetly.

"Try to be tough? I am tough." I said assertively. This only made him laugh more and I joined in. The doorknob started to jiggle and soon opened, revealing Cece and Bullfrog with grocery bags in their hands.

"Hey kids, what's so funny?" Bullfrog asked.

"Just Clare trying to be tough." Eli said.

"What did I just say? I am tough." They all just looked at me and we all erupted in laughter. When we stopped, Eli brought up the subject I hadn't thought about and was trying not to think about. Moving.

"So Mom, Dad Clare's dad is moving with his fiancée to Calgary and I was wondering if she could stay here with us." Eli said with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Of course she can baby boy!" Cece exclaimed.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

"Clare honey you could never be a burden we all love you." She said lovingly.

"Thank-you so much you have no idea how much this means to me." I gratefully said. I looked at Eli and he looked happier than I had seen him in awhile, it was nice. Then Cece brought me out of my thoughts.

"So, when is your dad supposed to move?"

"In one month."

"Okay well let your dad know you'll be staying with us and we can make all the arrangements." She said. I glanced at Eli and he was looking back at me, we both knew what the plan was.

"Okay."

"Clare did you want to go ask your dad now or later?" Eli asked me.

"Might as well get it done now. Can you drive me?"

"Of course." I smiled at Eli and said goodbye to Cece and Bullfrog. We walked out the door and got in Morty.

"I'm going to call Alli to tell her the plan." I said to Eli once we were settled in the car. He nodded 'okay' in response and I got out my phone.

"Hey Alli its me."

"Clare! I feel like we haven't talked in so long."

"I know but listen I kind of have a huge favor to ask." I said hoping she would agree.

"Okay what is it?"

"My dad is getting married and he wants to move to Calgary in a month, but I don't want to leave everything behind so I'm going to be staying with Eli. But I'm going to tell my dad I'm staying with you so he lets me stay. So I was wondering if you could cover for me." I said explaining.

"Eeep! You're going to live with Eli? You have to tell me everything." Alli said excitedly.

"So you're going to help me?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course I am I don't want you to move a million miles away and never get to see you."

"Thanks so much Alli." I said gratefully.

"Your welcome. By the way Clare, I'm sorry about everything with Jake it really wasn't something a best friend should do." Alli said with her head down in shame.

"It's okay, I'm over it." I said completely honest.

"Really?"

"Yes I cant believe we let a guy come between us. Never again." I said smiling.

"Totally never again." Alli agreed.

"Okay well I got to go, I'm on my way now to tell my dad about staying with you."

"Oh okay."

"And remember cover for me if he calls."

"Absolutely. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and turned to face Eli.

"So what did Alli say, is she going to cover for you?" He asked.

"Yes she's going to do it."

"Okay good, I couldn't live without you." Eli was slightly blushing when he said this.

"Oh my gosh is Elijah Goldsworthy, sarcastic, hearse driving guy, blushing?" I said being extremely sarcastic, gosh I'm just like him. Eli just rolled his eyes and focused on the road. When we approached my house I took a deep breathe and got out of the car. I held Eli's hand on the way up to the door, nervous about what my dad would say. Once I unlocked the door I hesitated, Eli gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and I proceeded to open the door. What I saw when I did put shock on my face, tears in my eyes, and anger in my mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**An: Sorry its taken me so long to update! Clare is a little OOC in this chapter but bare with me. Please review!**

When I opened the door, my father was sitting there with Melody surrounded by beer bottles and vodka. They were also making out and on the verge of taking their clothes off, on the couch. Tears were streaming down my face and Eli just looked shocked at what he saw. He looked down at me and tried to get me to go outside but I refused.

"Hey _dad_" I said with emphasis on the dad part. "Having fun screwing around with your whore?" Eli looked shocked at my words as did my dad. " Its clear you care more about her than your own daughter. By the way, I will be living with Eli while you two are in Calgary fucking each other. Have a nice life." With that I went out the door, not looking back to see his reaction. I got in Morty and Eli came out of the house minutes later, he came over to the drivers side and got in.

"Clare-"

"Lets just go Eli." I said, immediately I regretted the way I had said it. He just sighed. Eli was just trying to help and I couldn't even at least be nice to him. He was letting me stay with him, why did I have to be so horrible to him? I guess I learned it from my parents. Eli put the key in the ignition and drove away from the house. The drive there was filled with silence, when I looked over at Eli he seemed like he was deep in thought. We arrived at his house but he didn't move, just turned off the car. I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the door, but before I could get out Eli caught my arm, I looked at him questioningly and closed the door.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You know what's wrong." He said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I played dumb but I knew he would make me talk about it sooner or later.

"Yes you do, stop playing dumb. What happened with your dad back there was not okay." Eli said pointing out what I already knew.

"You think I don't know that? Its just I couldn't take it anymore Eli, he cares more about her than he does me. I'm his daughter and he would rather be with her than spending time with me. Plus my mom doesn't care about me either, she didn't even fight to have me live

with her. She just ran off to another country because she was free of me." I started crying again for the millionth time that day, but continued. "I don't even know why you care about me so much, I'm not worth it, and I have my mom and dad as proof."

"Clare I love you, why do you keep questioning that?"

"Because Eli, with what happened with my parents and how they ended I don't want that to be us. I could never love you the way you deserve to be loved."

"But that won't happen to us Clare, we love each other too much to let that happen. I would never do that to you, you're my world Clare I could never live without you. Don't you believe me?" Eli said so sincerely it brought me to tears, of course I loved him. It started raining then.

"Of course I do Eli, I'm just afraid of getting hurt again."

"You won't, how can I prove it to you?" Eli asked. I thought about it for a second then decided.

"Kiss me." He complied and leaned in slowly, our lips finally met and electricity ran through my body from head to toe. I leaned in more to deepen the kiss and Eli swiped his tongue across my lips and I opened my mouth. I moved to sit on Eli's lap and he moaned into the kiss, my hands were entangled and pulling at the strands of hair on the back of his head. While Eli's were on my waist squeezing gently, and we were both getting into it. Before we could go any further, there was a tapping on the window. Eli groaned and I giggled. Eli pulled down the window to see Cece standing there with a smirk on her face.

"Do you two plan on going inside anytime soon? Because I made dinner, or are you guys going to stay out here all night long" She said teasingly.

"Alright, alright we're coming. Give us a minute?" Eli said. Cece agreed and walked back up to the house. We looked at each other and started laughing like crazy.

"So, are you going to be okay?" Eli asked me.

"Yes, and after that kiss I definitely believe you." He smirked and chuckled. We both got out of the car holding hands and went up to his house, well our house now I guess. Eli opened the door and walked into the kitchen, Cece was standing by the stove turning it off.

"Hey kids, glad you decided to join us. Dinner is ready so you should sit at the table." Dinner went by quickly, but not without embarrassment from Cece about what happened in the car. After it was over I thanked Cece for dinner and Eli and I went upstairs.

"So Clare what do you want to do?"

"Lay down? I'm kind of tired."

"Okay." I lay down on Eli's bed and he did the same. He turned on the TV and put the volume on low.

"Eli?"

"Yeah?" He answered.

"How do you know that we'll be okay?"

"Because we I love you, and you love me and nothing can get between us." Eli replied.

"Okay I love you." I said.

"I love you too." After that I fell asleep to Eli lightly rubbing circles on my arm. A few hours later I woke up and realized I had fallen asleep at Eli's house. I looked at the clock and saw it was ten in the morning, I woke up Eli.

"Eli wake up! Its ten o'clock!" I whisper- yelled.

"And?" He asked still half asleep.

"And, we have school today." I said.

"So if its already ten why don't we just skip?" I thought about it for a minute.

"Okay I guess you're right." I reasoned.

"Lets go back to sleep." Eli murmured changing how he was positioned.

"You can, but I'm not." I said, but Eli was already fast asleep, man that boy could sleep. I left the room and headed downstairs for the kitchen. Cece and Bullfrog had already left for work so we were alone. I decided to make breakfast, in the cupboard I found some pancake mix and everything you need to make pancakes, also some bacon from the fridge. I put everything together that needed to be and started cooking it, when the pancakes were done and the bacon almost ready Eli came downstairs.

"Good morning Blue eyes." He said groggy and stretching.

"Hey sleepy head, have a nice sleep?"

"The best because you were there." Eli said smirking. I blushed and he came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, making me smile.

"It smells so good, you didn't have to make breakfast." He said.

"It's okay I wanted to." The bacon finished cooking and we sat down to eat, Eli basically vacuumed his from the plate. When I finished I brought both of our plates to the sink and washed all of the dishes. We then went back up the stairs, and sat back down on Eli's bed.

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"Um can we head over to my house? I kind of need to change."

"Okay, lets go." We went down the stairs and out to Morty, Eli started the hearse and we pulled away from the driveway.

"Well this will be interesting." I said.

"What will be interesting?" Eli asked.

"Facing my dad and Melody after what I said and not coming home last night." I said.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, but if you need me call me." He said. Soon we were at my house and I got out.

"Of course." We arrived at my house and I got out, but not before Eli pulled me back in for a kiss.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." I smiled and left the hearse, I went up to my front door and opened it. Surprisingly the house was silent, I thought my dad would've been waiting for me to yell at me for what I had said earlier. But that just further proves my point about him and Melody. I went up the stairs to my room and lay down, but first I put my ipod to play in the dock. My phone rung out Paisley Jacket by Dead hand and I knew it was Eli.

"Hey Eli."

"Hi Blue eyes, how did the parental meltdown go?" He asked and I could hear him chuckle a little.

"Non- existent, they aren't even home."

"Oh, well that's good I guess." He said.

"Yeah so, about sleeping arrangements for when I'm there…" I said, trailing off hoping he would finish the sentence.

"Well I was thinking you would stay in my room." Eli said.

"…Sounds like a plan." I said hesitantly, nervous about sleeping in Eli's room.

"Aww is Clare- bear afraid to sleep in a boy's room?" Eli said teasingly.

"Am not." I said defensively, he was not going to get to me this quickly.

"It's okay Blue eyes you're nervous, I'd be concerned if you weren't."

"I'm not nervous!"

"Really?" He said, skeptical.

"Okay maybe I am." I caved.

"I knew it!" Eli said boasting.

"Shut up." I giggled.

"You know you love me."

"You're right I do." I admitted, although he already knew I loved him.

"And I love you too." He said, I smiled.

"So do you want to go to the Dot later?" He asked

"Sure, when?"

"Around eight?" He suggested.

"Sounds great see you then."


End file.
